For the past eight weeks I’ve been participating in a program called Gignite, a side-gig incubator founded by Olivia Barrow who wrote for the Dayton Business Journal for a few years and is now a writer and entrepreneur in Madison, WI. Here’s some of her description of Gignite from her website:
Gignite is an 8-week incubator for side gigs, passion projects, and hobbies. We provide the time, space, accountability, and inspiration for you to turn those “one day I want to” ideas into real projects … Each week will include a one-hour program followed by up to two hours of uninterrupted productivity time. You’ll have access to electrical outlets, wifi and the camaraderie of other passionate folks finally making time for their projects … The program will include group discussions on productivity, networking, or finding resources for your project, short activities to build camaraderie and get your creative juices flowing, and a chance to hear from your peers about their projects and their progress.
There was a (very reasonable) fee to join, with a portion refunded if you attended regularly. I found that the financial commitment really does help push you over the edge to staying on track. We gathered at Nucleus Co-Share (for me conveniently located directly across the street from my house) every Monday from 6:30 to 9:30. Our activities included everything from brainstorming networking connections to light improv, and we also had a lot of time to really focus and dig into our projects.
I used Gignite to plan and stay on a regular posting schedule for Dayton Vistas. Last night was our last meeting, and I made a lot of progress on the site. Coincidentally, last night coincided perfectly with my deadline to get book edits back to the production editor, so our post-worktime celebration was perfect for me!
Olivia and her intern Haley also did brief interviews with Gignite participants, and they published one on me recently. You can give that a read here.
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